By: Kyle Moylan
Running with little – actually make that no – margin of error, the Allentown High School girls’ cross country team was still able to come away with a win in its first meet in the Colonial Valley Conference.
Allentown ran against Lawrence and West Windsor South at Veteran’s Park last Friday. Allentown was defeated by Lawrence, 16-41. Allentown did manage to beat West Windsor South in the same meet, however, 27-28.
"We only had five runners in the race," Allentown coach Maureen Nosal noted. "When you only have five runners, you have to cross your fingers and pray."
The reason for prayer is the fact a team needs to run at least five girls in order to post a team score and possibly win a meet. A team can have four Olympians on its squad, but without a fifth runner, it will be winless.
"Trying to keep them healthy, I can’t work them too hard in practice," Nosal noted. "There’s a fine line between very good and injured. I have to error on the side of caution. We have to have five people in order to score in a meet."
This really wasn’t a factor against Lawrence, which placed girls in four of the top slots and managed a pair of one-sided wins in the tri-meet. On the other hand, the actions of every girl in Allentown’s meet against West Windsor South were crucial.
"The amazing thing is West Windsor also only had five girls," Nosal noted. "They were hurt by the fact that the schools split (West Windsor North has its own sports teams this season), but I still thought there would be more girls from such a big school. Seeing how many girls they had made me feel better about our situation."
While Allentown doesn’t have a lot of girls, it does have a lot of young talent. Nicole Mann, just a sophomore, placed fourth against Lawrence and second against West Windsor South in a time of 23:43. Lauren Farrell, a sophomore, placed third in a time of 24:20. Yaronit Nordin, another talented youngster, placed fifth against West Windsor South in a time of 24:58.
"They are going to be the top three all year," Nosal noted. "They will push each other. We have a nice, young team."
The other two girls to run against West Windsor South are seniors Esther Pesciotta (28:07) and Allison Berry (30:26).
"Our key thing in the meet was our fourth girl beat out two West Windsor girls between the second and third miles," Nosal noted. "That turned the meet in our favor."
Allentown was scheduled to run against Hamilton this past Tuesday, but that meet was postponed because of a teacher’s strike in Hamilton. This may be just as well because Allentown could possibly have another runner in its lineup when this meet is eventually ran.
"Our sixth girl is a transfer from Notre Dame that has to wait 30 days in order to compete," Nosal noted. "Dana Burke, a sophomore, will definitely make an impact. But because she was a letterwinner, she has to adhere to the NJSIAA rules and wait."
Allentown’s next team meet in the CVC will be Tuesday when it runs against Hightstown and Princeton at Mercer County Park. Unlike last season, Allentown will compete only once a week this season. This format works by having more than two teams compete at once.
"I like it," Nosal said. "It gives you a lot of time to rest and practice. It actually is a better format."
Allentown will also stay active in meets like the Cherokee Challenge, which it will take part in this Saturday. Unlike normal cross country meets, the Cherokee Challenge is just two miles long, with the runners separated by their grade.
"We like doing it," Nosal said. "It’s a great course, a beautiful school and a different break for the kids."
And since her girls are basically competing as individuals, Nosal doesn’t have to worry about the fact there aren’t many of them on the team.
